Chapter 4
I was up super early this Saturday.
Sunlight slipped through the curtains, casting light across the floor.
I grabbed my phone and tapped open WhatsApp.
Eric was still on the blacklist. I felt a little relieved.
After washing up, I changed into a fresh outfit.
Before I left, my mom gave me a box of cookies.
"You'll need this," she said.
"Thanks," I replied.
I had somewhere to go.
In my previous life, Eric had a secret shelter.
It was an apartment he rented, where he hid all kinds of things, including the loan contracts he had taken out in my name, and chats with other girls.
I only found out about that place by accident, when I was going through his belongings after he passed away.
I still remembered the address perfectly. It was an old apartment complex out on the outskirts.
It took me forty minutes to get there by cab.
At the gate to the complex, an elderly guard sat there, looking half-asleep.
Sizing me up with narrowed eyes, he asked, "Who are you here for?"
"I'm here for Eric," I answered, giving both his name and the apartment number.
He gave me a good once-over, then waved me through without another word.
I guess he had seen all kinds of girls come and go with Eric here, so nothing fazed him anymore.
Inside the building, the hallway smelled musty. Paint peeled off the walls, and the stair railing was rusty.
I held onto the railing, climbing up.
Third floor. Room 302.
The door was closed.
I took a deep breath at the door.
In my previous life, I had to break in by picking the lock, but this time, I came prepared.
I pulled out the keys from my bag. I'd gotten someone to duplicate them for me just yesterday.
Back then, I discovered a spare key hidden in the fire hydrant box by the door.
Sure enough, it was still there.
I slid the key into the lock and turned it gently.
The next second, the door swung open.
A faint mix of perfume and cigarette smoke washed over me. It smelled exactly like I remembered.
The apartment was tiny, with one bedroom, one living room, and simple furnishings, but all over the place were women's stuff—lipstick, earrings, skirts.
Clearly, more than one woman had been here.
I walked into the living room, and the first thing I noticed on the coffee table was a laptop.
It was Eric's.
It was this laptop where I found all the proof against him in my previous life.
I walked over, sat down, and powered on the laptop. When it prompted me for a password, I typed in my birthday.
Nope. That wasn't it.
I tried his birthday this time. Still nothing.
I frowned.
Back then, the password was my birthday. Had he changed it?
I could feel my heart picking up speed.
If I couldn't get in, I wouldn't be able to find the evidence.
I took a deep breath, trying to remember how I opened it last time.
Then it hit me. I typed in Megan's birthday.
The screen lit up. Password correct.
My chest tightened.
Seriously? He used Megan's birthday for the password? Was he actually into her, or was she just another thrill for him?
Never mind. It didn't matter right now. I opened the folders, and as expected, there was a lot.
One subfolder was marked "Contracts". Inside were scanned copies of all the loan agreements.
My name, Claire Sutton, was plastered right there in the co-singer box.
And the emergency contacts were my parents' numbers.
Dates? One month before the debt collectors came calling in my previous life.
There were a bunch of other girls' names on there, too, including Megan's.
Amounts ranged from 1.5 thousand dollars to 15 thousand dollars.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking. This was more than enough to totally ruin him.
I pulled out my phone and took shot after shot, making sure every single detail was clear.
Then I backed up the photos to the cloud and sent copies to my other email.
Once that was done, I clicked open another folder—this one packed with screenshots of Eric's sweet-talking and empty promises to different girls.
He was always saying the same stuff to every single one of them.
[You're the only one I care about.]
[When I finish my work, I'll take you to meet my parents.]
[Those girls? Just casual flings.]
Reading through all that made me sick.
I couldn't believe I was actually dumb enough to buy into his nonsense in my previous life.
As I scrolled down, I found a chat thread with someone whose number I didn't recognize.
The contact was saved as "Adriel Walker".
Adriel: [Eric, it's time to pay back Claire's loan.]
Eric: [Adriel, please, just a few more days. I'll pay you soon.]
Adriel: [Don't play games with me. If you don't pay up, I'm going to her parents.]
Eric: [Please, Adriel, don't do this. I promise I'll pay you back.]
It was three days before the debt collectors came for me.
He had known all along I was about to get hounded, and he hadn't said a word.
He just let me flounder, letting the collectors corner me.